


Spider-Man: Far From Hope

by lxokqbrh



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Hurt Peter Parker, Ned Leeds is a Good Bro, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Post-Spider-Man: Far From Home, Post-Spider-Man: Far From Home Mid-Credits Scene, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Lives
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-11
Updated: 2020-03-14
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:01:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23100625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lxokqbrh/pseuds/lxokqbrh
Summary: The world knows that Peter Parker is Spider-Man, and it hates him for it.Peter and May are staying at the Stark lake house with Pepper, Morgan, and Tony (surprise, he's alive), until they can prove Peter's innocence to the world and he can get back to his normal life, well, as normal as it can be now that everyone knows he's Spider-Man.
Relationships: Happy Hogan/May Parker (Spider-Man), Michelle Jones/Peter Parker, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark
Comments: 7
Kudos: 52
Collections: Spider-Man Public Identity Reveal





	1. The Lake House

“Spider-Man’s name is Peter Parker.”

“What the f—”

Peter awoke with a start, sitting immediately upright in bed, his sheets damp with sweat. He took a few heaving breaths as he tried to calm his body down. Eventually his breathing settled and he collapsed back down into his pillow. It was still surreal. His identity was out to the world. Everyone knew his name, and on top of that, he was a wanted criminal. All he ever wanted to do was help people, to use his powers for good, and now the whole world was against him.

It had been two days since the piece had aired, and it had been perhaps the longest two days of his life. He remembered vividly MJ staring at him with wide eyes, while his body was frozen, uncomprehendingly, on the street lamp. He remembered being pulled out of his stupor by her yelling at him to run, while the people around him screamed at him, whether in fear or anger he wasn’t sure. He remembered swinging his way to the top of the nearest building and collapsing onto his back as his thoughts swam viciously through his head. He remembered the call from Happy telling him to stay put, but stay hidden, that he was on his way.

“Nightmare?” Peter heard the familiar voice and relaxed. Tony was looking at him with care in his eyes and a knowing look on his face, and Peter smiled halfheartedly back at him. Tony still looked a little unsteady on his legs since he was still recovering from the Snap, but he had been cleared to move around in short intervals a few days prior. It had been quite the shock when Peter stepped out of the Quinjet when they landed at the Starks’ lakehouse and he saw Tony there waiting for him, considering he was supposed to be dead. Peter thought it had to be another of Beck’s illusions, and he might have panicked a small bit and gone into spider mode. Once they had gotten Peter to calm down, having proven they were real by telling him something that only they would know, Peter threw himself into Tony’s arms as his tears started pouring out, directly onto his mentor’s shirt. As it turned out, Tony hadn’t died at all after the Snap and instead had gone into a coma. The only ones who knew he was alive were Pepper, Morgan, and Dr. Helen Cho’s team.

“Yeah,” said Peter, “just more of the same.” Peter looked down at his phone and saw that it was only four in the morning. “Oh shoot! Mr. Stark, did I wake you up?”

Tony chuckled softly and moved to sit on the edge of the bed. Peter swung his legs over the side to make room for him.

“No, kid. I was already up.” Peter frowned at that.

“Why weren’t you sleeping?” Peter asked as Tony sat and placed his hand on Peter’s thigh, giving it a short squeeze.

“Well,” said Tony. “Sleeping for extended periods of time has never been one of my specialties.” He paused. “And now, well I’m still dealing with some healing pains which makes it hard to sleep sometimes.” Peter nodded.

“Well, you look good,” said Peter, and Tony laughed. Peter loved the sound of his laugh. It was still hard to think about how close he was to never hearing that laugh again if Tony had died from the Snap.

“Thanks, kid,” said Tony. “Cho’s Cradle is pretty stunning, and that’s saying something coming from me.”

The two fell into a contented silence, and Peter let his head fall to the side to rest on Tony’s shoulder. Tony tensed at the contact before relaxing.

“Thank you again for letting May and I stay here,” said Peter after a moment. Tony lifted his arm and wrapped it around Peter’s shoulders.

“No thanks necessary. You’re always welcome here.”

“I just—I don’t know. I feel like we’re intruding on your family, and you have Morgan and all, and I don’t—”

“Kid, slow down. First off, Morgan loves having you here.” Tony paused. “You know, yesterday I heard her call you her spider brother.” Peter felt himself blush and stuttered a bit, unsure of whether Tony would be mad about that, but he just chuckled again. “Relax, it was pretty adorable, honestly.” And Peter relaxed. He smiled, wondering what Ned’s reaction would be if he knew that Morgan Stark had called him her brother. He made a note to text Ned about it soon. Happy had taken his phone when he had picked Peter up, in fear that it could be tracked, but Mr. Stark had given him a brand new Stark phone when he had gotten to the lake house so that he could keep in contact with Ned and MJ.

He had been texting them pretty regularly since he had gotten to the lake house. He wasn’t allowed to tell them that Tony was alive or where he was staying, but it was still nice to be able to talk to them. He felt bad knowing that they were having a hard time at school, being his friends and all. They had told him that they had been advocating for him whenever they could, but the whole school still believed that he was a murderer. He was grateful for them, but part of him wished they would stop advocating for him just so they would be less of a target.

He realized he had been quiet for a long time when Tony spoke again. “You know we’re gonna get this thing figured out, don’t you?”

Peter sighed. “I don’t know, Mr. Stark. I really don’t. I mean, I’d really like to believe that, but—God, everything fell apart so quickly. Everyone knows who I am. Nobody was ever supposed to know. I just wanted to have a normal life. I was just supposed to be normal, boring Peter Parker to everyone around me, and now I’ll never have that. And that’s ignoring the fact that I’m an actual wanted criminal.”

“You said a mouthful, kid.” Tony paused for a moment. “First off, let me say that the words ‘boring’ and ‘Peter Parker’ do not belong together, ever. You’re a good kid, a great kid, and that wouldn’t change even if you weren’t Spider-Man. And, yeah, some of what you said is true. Life won’t be the same. I wish I could tell you otherwise, but I’d be lying. Yeah, life won’t be the same, but that doesn’t mean that it can’t be good. The world knows that I am—was Iron Man, but that didn’t stop me from having a fulfilling life. You just have to find your space where you can.”

Peter leaned deeper into Tony’s shoulder. “Thank you, Mr. Stark,” he said quietly, barely louder than a whisper.

“Anytime, kid,” said Tony. “Now, why don’t you try to go back to sleep. It’s still early.”

“Only if you try as well,” said Peter, and Tony smiled at him.

“You drive a hard bargain, but deal.” Tony squeezed Peter’s shoulder and stood, and Peter crawled back under his sheets.

“Good night, Mr. Stark,” said Peter.

“Good night, Pete,” said Tony with a smile. As Tony closed the door behind him, Peter felt a small smile work its way onto his face. Maybe everything would be okay. He didn’t know exactly how—hell, he didn’t know the first step toward getting things even into the realm of being okay, but he believed that there was a way. And with that thought in his mind, Peter closed his eyes and fell back into a slumber free from nightmares.

* * *

When Peter awoke for the second time, morning light was leaking its way into his room from the edges of the blinds. He pushed himself up and out of bed slowly and pulled open the blinds. The view from his room was pretty incredible. It looked right out onto the lake, and Peter could see the sun glinting off the water. Peter could smell vividly the scents of breakfast being made from his room. He probably would’ve smelled it even without his enhanced senses, but with them, it just made it that much more intense. Whatever it was, it smelled delicious.

Hearing voices coming from outside his room, Peter pushed the door open and walked down the short hall to the living room. He had to smile at the sight. Pepper and May were in the kitchen making breakfast. Peter assumed it was mostly Pepper doing the work, since, as much as Peter loved her, May’s cooking skills weren’t the greatest. The two of them actually seemed to have bonded very well, which somewhat surprised Peter, though he supposed it shouldn’t have. Peter didn’t know Pepper very well, but she had been extremely kind to him since he had gotten to the lake house. In the living room, Tony and Morgan were sitting on the couch watching some cartoon on the TV, and they both looked extremely content. Outside on the porch, Peter could see Happy talking on the phone. He looked frustrated, and Peter wondered what that was about.

Peter shifted a bit on his feet in the doorway to the living room, unsure of where to go. As he leaned to his left, one of the floorboards squeaked, and Tony and Morgan both turned their heads toward him in perfect synchronization.

“Spider Pete!” squealed Morgan, and Peter smiled at her. It was impossible not to love her, and Peter already loved kids. Some of his favorite moments from being Spider-Man were his interactions with the kids of New York. They were always so excited to see him, and he loved getting to talk to them and giving them high fives and taking pictures with him. His mood was dampened when he realized that now if any kids saw him they would probably scream and run away. Pushing that out of his mind, Peter turned his attention to Morgan.

“Hola, Morguna,” said Peter with a grin, having adopted Tony’s nickname for his daughter. Morgan giggled, then motioned for Peter to come sit with them on the couch. Peter hesitated for a moment, again feeling that he was intruding, but Morgan looked so excited that it was hard to resist.

Peter slid onto the couch next to Morgan, and the little girl curled herself against his body. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and rubbed his hand a bit up and down her arm.

“Choosing favorites, are we, Morguna? I see how it is,” said Tony. Peter felt a surge of guilt but relaxed when he saw Tony smiling.

“Don’t worry,” said Morgan, “I still love you 3,000.” That seemed to reconcile Tony, and he turned back to the TV. Morgan’s eyes suddenly lit up with the spark of an idea. “Ooh, Petey! Can you make yourself sticky?”

That caught Tony’s attention, and he shot a warning glance at Peter. “Peter, don’t you dare stick yourself to my daughter with your freaky spider fingers.”

Peter smiled apologetically at Morgan. “Sorry, Morgan, but I don’t want to upset your dad. He’s pretty scary when he’s upset.”

Tony scoffed. “Oh please, how would you know what I’m like when I’m upset?”

“Um,” said Peter, “remember the ferry incident?” Peter hated that memory. It was one of the lowest points of his life. He couldn’t even begin to express the shame he felt in that moment.

“Oh,” said Tony, “right, yeah, I suppose. Sorry about that, by the way. Well, actually, no, not sorry. You screwed up big time. I probably could’ve handled that better though. Eh, tough love I guess.”

“What’s the ferry incident?” asked Morgan, and Peter paused. He hated reliving that moment, but Tony was looking at him expectantly.

“Just another time your dad saved the day,” he said. He caught Tony smiling at him and felt himself blush.

“Oh. But daddy, please! I want to see what Petey’s sticky fingers feel like!” Tony looked at his daughter disbelievingly, with an eyebrow raised, but eventually sighed and shook his head.

“Alright, fine,” said Tony. “Pete, you officially have permission to stick to my daughter for three seconds. Not four, three.”

Peter laughed and then focused back on Morgan. She was looking up at him in anticipation. Peter placed his hand on Morgan’s upper arm, and made himself sticky. He remembered when he had first gotten his powers and was sticking to everything. It was such a mess, and he couldn’t believe that neither Aunt May nor Uncle Ben had noticed. Now, it was such a natural thing for him to make himself sticky, he hardly had to think about it.

“Whoa!” cried Morgan, and Peter smiled. Still sticking to her, he lifted her arm and made her wave at Tony, who just shook his head.

“Your three seconds are up,” said Tony. Peter let himself unstick, and Morgan’s arm flopped back down to the couch cushion.

“Daddy, it’s so cool! You have to try!” said Morgan. Tony stared blankly at Morgan for a few seconds before shaking his head again.

“Oh Christ, alright, yep I’m doing this,” said Tony, and he stuck his arm out toward Peter. Peter looked up at him in shock.

“Are you sure?” asked Peter.

“Oh, just do it already,” said Tony, and Peter placed his hand over Tony’s and made himself stick. Tony’s mouth dropped open when he felt Peter stick to him. Peter waved Tony’s hand around a bit. “That… is not natural,” said Tony, slowly. Peter let Tony’s hand go and it flopped down to the couch like Morgan’s. Tony was silent for a few seconds, not taking his eyes from Peter’s hand. “We’re gonna have to do some research on that,” said Tony. “Figure out how that works.”

“Oh,” said Peter, “I already know how it works actually! I have these little hairs that can extend out from my hands and feet that help me stick to things. I don’t think you could see them without a microscope, but I can see them pretty well with my enhanced vision.” Peter looked down at his hand and watched the little hairs extend and then retract.

“Huh,” said Tony, looking on blankly. Peter laughed.

“Mr. Stark, I think this is the first time I’ve seen you at a loss for words,” said Peter. Tony sent a glare toward him, but there was no heat behind it.

“Please,” said Tony, “I’m never at a loss for words.” Peter raised an eyebrow at him. “Okay, maybe a little, but that’s just… You’re a weird kid, you know that, Pete?”

Peter smiled at him. “Yeah, I think I’ve known that for a while now.”

It was then that Pepper called from the kitchen. “Breakfast is ready!”

Tony, Morgan, and Peter stood from the couch and started toward the kitchen table, Morgan sticking close by Peter’s side. They sat at the table, Morgan and Peter next to each other on one side of the table, while Tony took the end. Pepper and May came out from the kitchen holding plates packed with scrambled eggs and bacon. After they set the table, Pepper took the other end of the table, while May sat on the side opposite Peter and Morgan.

“Good morning, Peter,” said May, smiling kindly at her nephew.

“Morning, May,” said Peter with a smile of his own. It was then that Happy came in from the porch and took a seat next to May. Peter couldn’t help but noticed when the two of them started holding hands. It was still weird to him, but he knew Happy was a good guy and would never hurt May, so he was trying to be open to their relationship.

Everyone started digging in then, and the food, thought Peter, was delicious. Definitely better than May’s cooking, though Peter would never tell her that. They ate in silence at first before starting to make some idle conversation about nothing in particular. Morgan chipped in at one point and told everyone that they needed to feel Peter sticking to them. May and Pepper looked amused, while Happy looked slightly disgusted.

“It is actually pretty incredible,” said Tony, which made Peter smile. Peter couldn’t help but notice how familial the whole dynamic felt with the group, something he had been sorely missing for a long time. May was perfect and more than enough, but he still hadn’t had the experience of a full and complete family for almost his entire life.

After they finished eating, Peter helped clear the plates from the table and wash them.

“Hey, Morguna, why don’t you and Uncle Happy go for a walk outside, okay?” said Tony after they had cleaned up. Happy seemed to get the message and bustled himself and Morgan outside to go for a walk around the lake. Peter wasn’t totally oblivious and knew that this meant that they were going to have a talk that Morgan didn’t need to be present for, which meant it was probably going to be about him and his status as a wanted criminal. “Why don’t you sit down, Pete?” said Tony. Peter took his seat but kept his eyes focused on the table. The morning so far had allowed him to almost forget that his entire life was in shambles.

Pepper and May sat down as well, both sending glances toward Peter. “So, um, Peter,” said Tony, “it’s time to start thinking about how we’re going to move forward from this.” Peter nodded. He knew this was a conversation that needed to happen. “SI and the Avengers have both already released statements supporting your innocence, but the people still aren’t convinced.” Peter looked up in surprise. He hadn’t known about those statements. “So,” he said, “we need more proof than just some people’s words.”

“How are we supposed to get more proof?” asked Peter. 

Tony looked back at him. “You’re a smart kid, Pete. Think, what do we have that can prove your innocence?”

Peter thought and was coming up blank. Then, after a few seconds, the answer hit him. “Karen!” he nearly yelled. Everyone at the table was looking at him blankly.

“Karen?” said Tony.

“Uh, sorry, that’s, um, what I named the AI in my suit. She records everything, though, so if we get the footage from the suits we can show what really happened!” Peter felt like a huge burden had been taken off his chest. This was the answer they were looking for. Tony looked on at Peter in pride, and Peter felt warmth bubble up in his chest. Then he felt himself deflate. “But the Night Monkey suit,” he said. “I lost it in that Dutch prison.”

“That’s where you’re wrong, kid,” said Tony. “We got it back from them yesterday, and we already have the other suit you made as well, which, by the way, awesome job with that, kid.” Peter felt himself blush, but he couldn’t deny how good the praise from Tony felt. “There is a caveat, though,” said Tony then, and Peter looked back up, unsure what Tony was talking about. “The thing is, the authorities aren’t always super hero friendly.” Peter nodded. He knew that but was still unsure of where this was going. “So, it would be dangerous to just send the videos to the people who are handling your case and be done with it.” And now, Peter understood. Before Tony could continue, he interjected.

“So we need as many eyes on the videos as we can get. We need to release them to the public to get their support,” said Peter.

“Told you that you were smart, kid,” said Tony, but all Peter could feel was dread. He leaned his head back and stared at the ceiling.

“God, this sucks,” said Peter. “I—I don’t want people seeing me like that. It was the scariest thing I’ve ever been through. Worse than the plane with the Vulture, worse than Thanos.” Peter saw Tony wince at Thanos’s name and instantly felt guilty, but Tony was back to normal in a second.

“I know, kid, but we don’t really have much of a choice.”

Peter was silent for a few moments trying to think of any other option. There was a reason he didn’t want anyone to know about him being Spider-Man; beyond protecting the people close to him, he also didn’t want them to worry. But now everyone would realize just how dangerous what he did really was. He sighed, knowing there was no other option. “Okay,” he said quietly.

“Hey, Peter,” said May, and Peter looked up at her. “I larb you.”

Peter chuckled softly. “Larb you too, Aunt May.”


	2. The Footage

“Alright, who’s ready for a movie?” said Tony, and Peter groaned.

“Tony, this is serious,” chided Pepper.

“Yeah, yeah, alright,” said Tony. They had finished downloading all the footage of Peter’s interactions with Beck from Peter’s suits, and then, using the B.A.R.F. tech, they had altered the footage to show a third person view of Peter, which they reckoned would make the footage easier to watch and more stable.

“May,” said Peter, “I know we’ve already had this conversation, but I’d still really prefer that you didn’t watch this.”

May smiled at him but stood her ground. “Peter, the whole world is going to see this. I think your Aunt deserves to see it as well.”

Peter wanted to rebut, but he knew he was fighting a losing battle. “Alright,” he said, “let’s get this over with.”

Tony hit play, and the video started. It began with Nick Fury leading Peter into their lair—or whatever it was that they called that place. Peter’s mask was off but still recording, so they were still able to get the footage. Peter felt uncomfortable knowing that the whole world was going to see him in his Spider-Man suit without the mask, but he shook those thoughts out of his head.

Nick Fury introduced him to Maria Hill, Demetri, and then Beck. Peter’s blood ran cold seeing his face. Beck gave his exposition about the multiverse and the elementals, and looking at it now, Peter felt ashamed that he didn’t see through the lie.

Then they told him that the next elemental was going to be in Prague.

“I mean, I’m just the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, sir,” video Peter said.

“Bitch, please, you’ve been to space,” said Nick Fury, and everyone in the room got a little chuckle out of that, even Peter. At least, he thought, we have a little comic relief before all hell breaks loose.

They also pulled the footage from EDITH, so next up was him trying on Edith on the bus. They watched on as he accidentally called a drone strike on Brad and then saved it at the last second. Everyone was silent for a moment after that.

“Okay, maybe we’ll cut that part,” said Tony, and everyone in the room nodded their heads in agreement.

The next footage they had was from the Night Monkey suit. Peter was up in position on the tower waiting for the fire elemental to show up. The fight began, and it was surreal for Peter to watch himself work from a third person perspective. Tony was right: it did look like a movie. They watched as Beck charged through the elemental, and then Peter hurried over to him and picked him up. Then, Fury came over and gave his exposition to Beck and Peter, inviting them both to Berlin.

The next shot was from the EDITH glasses in the bar that Beck brought him to. Peter watched as he handed the glasses over to Beck and hung his head in shame. He felt Tony place his hand on his back but still didn’t look up.

Next was something that Peter had never seen before. After he left the bar, the illusion faded away, and Beck started giving an exposition on his whole master plan while all his cronies cheered around him. Everyone watched in silent disgust at the psychopath who had tricked Peter.

The next footage was from the hotel room in Prague after MJ had found out that he was Spider-Man and they discovered that Beck was faking the whole thing. Peter chuckled to himself, thinking that Ned would probably be pretty excited to see that he was going to be in the footage that they were going to release. Then, Peter was swinging away out the window in his Night Monkey suit.

Next, he was meeting up with Nick Fury. Everyone laughed when they saw him break the seatbelt in his car. Tony actually reached over and gave him a high five.

“Nice job wrecking the old pirate’s car,” said Tony.

Then, he was explaining the illusion tech to Nick Fury and Maria Hill, though Hill soon faded away as an illusion. Fury was shot by one of the drones, and then so was Peter. May shrieked when they watched him fall down through the building and collide with the cement floor. She wrapped her arms around Peter as if reassuring herself that he was still here, alive and well.

Then, the whole illusion sequence started. This was the part that Peter was really dreading them all seeing. This was the stuff he was seeing in his nightmares every night. Peter stood in the middle of a sea of drones, Beck’s voice echoing around him.

Then, he was back in the original suit that Tony had made for him, and he was suddenly in a school hallway as Beck walked toward him. Peter tried to fire his webs at him, but only green smoke came out. Then, Beck was behind him. Peter went to punch him but only hit a brick wall. MJ’s voice echoed out of the void, and they were on top of the Eiffel Tower. Green tendrils grabbed her and dropped her off the tower, Peter diving after her, only to collide painfully with the ground.

Peter fell through dozens of spider webs, his suit morphing back into the Night Monkey suit and landed right on top of a car, crushing it. Peter felt May hold him tighter, and even Tony reached out to put a comforting hand on his thigh.

Peter saw the drones pour out of the sky toward him, then turn into glass mirrors. As he went to touch his reflection, dozens of identical copies of him started pouring out and tackling him to the ground. Suddenly, they were gone and Peter was back in his homemade suit. Beck continued monologuing, his voice seemingly coming from everywhere.

Then Beck was behind him and started attacking him. Peter cast out with his webs and tried to pull him down, only to nearly bring down a crane on top of himself. Beck kept attacking him, and then he was gone and Peter was standing in front of the gravestone.

_ If you were good enough, maybe Tony would still be alive. _

And that was it. That was the killer.

“Oh, kid,” Tony muttered under his breath. Peter leaned into his touch to remind himself that he was still here, and he felt tears well in his eyes.

Then, Tony’s hand shot out of the grave, and his rotting corpse in the dilapidated Iron Man suit started crawling toward him. Tony’s grip on his thigh became tighter, almost to the point of it hurting. It focused in on his skull then, spiders pouring out of it, which transformed into legions of Mysterios marching toward him.

Then, Peter was in a snowglobe made of Mysterio’s helmet, when suddenly Beck was apparently shot by Nick Fury. Fury made him reveal who he told, and then the illusion was back with Beck saying all his friends had to die. Everything was collapsing around him. Peter braced himself for what he knew was coming. The illusion suddenly died completely, and Peter was hit by the train.

May shrieked and wrapped her arms around him, burying her face in his hair. Peter could feel tears dripping down from her eyes onto his neck. Tony reached out and paused the video.

“Holy shit, kid,” said Tony. Even he looked close to tears, and Peter felt awful. He could still recall the feeling vividly of the train colliding into him and crushing his bones. Peter turned and saw that Pepper was in tears as well. She reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Guys, it’s okay. We all know I made it out, so it’s okay. I mean, yeah it sucked, but it’s over now.” Tony met his eyes, his own sad and wet.

“Kid, I’m so sorry I couldn’t have been there to help you,” said Tony.

“It’s okay, Mr. Stark,” said Peter. “I promise. I mean, you’ve already saved the world about a dozen times. It’s about time you let someone else have a turn.” Tony looked at him disbelievingly, before shaking himself out of it.

“God, kid, you’re something else,” he said. “Now, why don’t we push through the rest of this.” Peter nodded but turned back to face May.

“May, I told you that you shouldn’t watch this.”

“Peter,” said May, who had somewhat regained her composure. “I need to see this. I just—I need to, okay. God, I’m so sorry Peter,” she said, her tears beginning to flow again.

“It’s okay, May. I’m okay. I promise,” said Peter, while Tony hit the play button again. They all turned their attention back to the screen. They watched as Peter slowly crawled into the train, bloodied and bruised and passed out.

The next footage was from Beck as he stood on the bridge and initiated the drone attack and targeted Peter’s friends. Then, Peter was on the outside of the plane as they rocketed toward the giant monster illusion. He jumped off the plane and glided toward the illusion until he made his way inside. Then he started connecting all the drones with his webs, until he activated his taser webs and destroyed down a huge chunk of the drones. Spotting Beck on the bridge, he swung towards him but was hit by a drone and fell below the bridge.

Then, they watched as he entered the chase. He swung over and around the bridge while being chased by dozens of drones, taking out a number of them along the way. They watched as he was set on fire then put himself out by dragging himself through the water. Then he was back on the ground when the drones started firing sonic bursts at him, and he was launched back into the water.

After crawling back up onto the bridge, severely wounded and out of webs. Peter made himself a makeshift grenade and grabbed the tower bridge sign as a shield, before running toward one of the downed drones to launch himself up. He hurled the grenade toward the drones, destroying a massive chunk of him, and launched himself up through the glass floor and grabbed Beck. Then, he was launched away from Beck by one of the drones, only to find himself in another illusion. They watched him close his eyes and launch himself forward, tearing through the drones one by one.

Finally, it seemed like the illusions had stopped, and Beck was done. Peter tore his mask off and limped toward Beck. He stood over him, only to grab Beck’s wrist as it turned out that he was actually behind him about to shoot him. Beck fell to the ground, and Peter grabbed the glasses back from him.

_ Execute them all _ . That was the damning line, the one that Beck’s team had reused to make the Peter’s-a-murderer video.

They watched as Beck died, and then it was all over. The video ended.

The group sat in silence for at least a full minute.

“Oh my God, kid,” said Tony. Peter shifted in his chair and kept his gaze focused down on his thighs. Peter had expected May to be shocked and even Pepper, though she had seen some action, but he really didn’t expect Tony to be rendered speechless. Surely, he had seen much worse than that as Iron Man. Still, Tony looked like a fish out of water. “Kid,” he said, and Peter braced himself for whatever he was about to say. “I’m proud of you.”

Peter looked up at Tony in shock. Whatever he expected Tony to say, it wasn’t that. He looked at Tony trying to find some evidence that he was joking, but he appeared to be completely genuine.

“I’m serious, Peter,” said Tony. “That was… unreal—sorry, that’s probably the wrong word to use. But that was unbelievable.” He looked Peter dead in the eyes, and Peter found himself unable to look away from his intense gaze. “Kid, I never could have done that. I mean that. Beck would’ve killed me dead. But you did it. You beat him, and God that’s amazing. I’m so proud of you, kid.”

Peter felt his eyes well with tears, and he threw himself against Tony. They wrapped their arms around each other, and Peter’s tears started pouring freely from his eyes. “God, it was so awful, Mr. Stark. I was so scared,” said Peter, and Tony just squeezed him tighter. Unbeknownst to Peter, Pepper and May looked met each other’s eyes and smiled at the sight of their two boys.

Eventually, Peter regained his composure and pulled away from Tony, though he felt that he could’ve stayed in that embrace for hours. Next in line was May, and he collapsed into her arms. May put her hand on the back of Peter’s head and held him steady as his tears slowed. Peter felt Pepper put his hand on his shoulder, and Peter pulled away from May to face her.

“You’re amazing, Peter. You really are,” said Pepper, and Peter felt himself blush.

“Thank you Miss Potts—er, Mrs. Stark, sorry,” Peter finished lamely. Pepper laughed.

“Pepper is fine, Peter,” said Pepper, and Peter nodded.

“Right. Thanks, Pepper,” said Peter.

“Oh sure, so you’ll call her Pepper just like that, but I’m stuck as ‘Mr. Stark’?” asked Tony. Peter turned toward Tony with a mischievous grin.

“Well, you’re an old man, so I have to call you ‘Mr. Stark,” said Peter.

“Alright, now you’re pushing it, kid,” said Tony, though he was smiling too. The four of them shared a short laugh, until Tony broke it up. “Okay, so I’ll finish the last touches with the editing, and then we’ll post the footage. Sound good?”

Peter’s body was wracked with anxiety about posting the video, but he nodded, trying to appear confident.

“Hey,” said Tony. “It’s gonna be alright, kid. Once the video is posted, everyone will know that you’re innocent—more than that, they’ll know that you saved the world. Then, we just have to wait for the courts to do their thing and officially declare you innocent, and then it’ll all be okay.”

Peter nodded. “Yeah,” he said. “It’ll be okay.”


End file.
